About us

British in Italy are part of the British in Europe Coalition (“BiE” – representing tens of thousands of British citizens resident across the EU) and work closely with groups representing EU citizens in the UK, such as the3Million group (the largest and most effective group of EU citizens in the UK) and Together Forward, a UK based group of Italians. Click here to visit the British in Europe website

Our work includes lobbying at UK and EU level and is mostly done through the expert lobbyists of BiE and we contribute to that process. BiE have established very good contacts at the highest level with the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Brexit Task Force of MEPs and at a high level within the UK civil service (though UK Ministers have been less forthcoming). In the negotiations a pattern has now been established whereby BiE is debriefed by senior civil servants on both sides almost as soon as a round is complete, and then responds in writing with a reaction before the next round begins. This always takes place in conjunction with the3million so that the views of all citizens affected on both sides of the Channel and the Irish border are put across.

British in Italy has also lobbied the UK and Italian Parliaments. One of our committee members gave evidence to the House of Commons Exiting the EU Committee in January and two others in July to the Italian Senate’s joint committee investigating Brexit. In conjunction with Together Forward and the3million British in Italy has established good contacts with Italian politicians, including Sandro Gozi, Sottosegretario at the office of the Presidente del Consiglio with the Europe brief and we feed our publications to them. In addition, through our media contacts, word of mouth and our dedicated Facebook page we regularly come into contact with British and Italian citizens affected by Brexit. We have also had meetings with the British Embassy.

Our aims

Our aim is to ensure that Brexit does not penalize individuals, all of whom made the decision to move across the Channel in good faith and relying on their EU rights. UK citizens already in Italy and the other 27 EU countries, and the Italians and other EU citizens already in the UK, should continue to have all the rights we have acquired or are in the process of acquiring while the UK remains a member of the EU. And we should do so for the rest of our natural lives
We subscribe to the Governing Principle put forward by British in Europe, the Coalition of which we form part. This states:
“The UK’s withdrawal from the EU should not have retrospective effect on individuals. UK citizens currently resident in the EU and EU citizens currently resident in the UK should be expressly treated as continuing to have the same rights as they had before Brexit. This is not confined to a right of continued residence but extends to all related rights such as the acquisition of citizenship, the right to continue to work, whether employed or self employed, or run a business; recognition of qualifications, right to study, right of equal treatment, right to move between and work freely across all EU countries without loss or change of any existing EU rights, the right to healthcare, pensions, social benefits/social assistance etc. In short, the full complex of indivisible EU citizenship rights that they currently have should be guaranteed for these individuals.”

Further details of this can be found in the Alternative White Paper, published by Britain in Europe at the time of the Brexit bill. You can find more information, and a link to the full document, here.

Appearance at the Parliamentary Select Committee for Exiting the EU

The full session ‘British Citizens residing in other European Countries’ can be viewed right, courtesy of Parliamentlive.tvYou can enlarge by selecting the ‘Full Screen’ button